Nike's Chosen One
by Jupiterson
Summary: Lionel Keane, offspring of Robbie Keane and Nike, is faced with a decision. Will he choose correctly and responsibly or will he curse the world into eternal damnation. Read and find out. DISCLAIMER: I own none of the PJO or HoO material. Rick Riordan does. R and R please. THANKS!
1. Chapter 1

FedEx

That was my nickname. Well, the one my older brother gave me any way the rest of my older siblings gave me other various names all meaning the same thing. You don't belong here and you should leave. I'm the youngest of five with the ages ranging from 19 to 14 me being 14. My parents named me Lionel, though I prefer to be called Lio. My dad, Robbie Keane, you might know him as the LA Galaxy soccer player,well he told me my mom had died giving birth to me. I don't necessarily believe that. I think that she's still out there just waiting for the right moment to show herself.I had always planned on running away, so when it actually came the proper time to do so, I was ready. I was arguing with my older brother, John. We were arguing about who should get the remote which was clearly me and he knew it.

"Move FedEx. I called it so go back to the post office they mailed you from."

" No it was my turn next and I not moving' until I watch what I want to watch." I shouted back

" To bad." John retorted

I had decided that was the last straw so I pushed him in to the wall not realizing that there was a window behind him. After realizing what I had done and hearing the glass break I yelled out

" He deserved it!"

before grabbing my already made bag of food and clothing I had packed gradually over the course of a month. I ran up to my room, in our three-story house, grabbed the bag, and shimmied down the tree next to my window without even taking a look back. I could hear my dad calling after me as I ran down Hollywood BLVD. I started to wonder what I would do when my rations ran out. Probably just go back to my hose and live life like normal. I abruptly stopped after finding a wallet on the floor in front of me. I picked up the wallet and looked through it finding nothing but two credit cards. I immediately wondered whose wallet it was, then I thought **_since I was going to be living on the streets for a while, I should learn how to live like a hood rat as there are so many_ _here._** I reached a cardboard box about the size of a couch and said

" What the heck why not."

Right as I was about to get in the box I noticed a girl who exclaimed that she had saw it first and then she dove in the box. Since it was a girl I let her have it. Before I went to bed I decided that I would wake up earlier than her and follow her to where ever it was she was going. So I slept in the box that was a little smaller but it was sufficient. The next morning I slept a bit later than I had expected. But before I could crawl out of the box, the girl I had seen last night, was over me and was shaking me violently screaming

"They're coming. Come on. We have to go. Get up. Get up. Faster faster. Come on we have to go before they're here."

" Who are you talking about? And get off of me!"

"The monsters. They've been following me for weeks and coming right now, so lets go now!"

"Well, you know that sounds like a personal problem but I'll help you."

"Thank you."

"So which way should we run?"

"I've been trying to get to New York because it seems like the safest place to go right now."

This was the only time I'd had such strong feelings for one girl. I took a step back from her and regarded her. She was a little shorter than me, she had kaleidoscope eyes, brown hair with red tips, a petite figure, and a light complexion.

"Well then lets get going!" I yelled

We raced down the street and then turned at the next intersection. We both stopped.

"Did we lose it?"

"No we'll have to run a few more blocks before we lost it and even then it'll catch us we'll have to eventually fight it."

"Oh."

With that we started running again. We ran for seemingly hours but it was only a couple of minutes. We turned around and found that we were face to face with a the monster that was chasing us.

"It's a Chimera, a three-headed monster with one head of lion, one of a snake, and another of a goat, lion claws in front and goat legs behind, and a long snake tail." the girl told me

"That's what was chasing you."

"Yeah!"

"I'm sorry this is kinda random but what's your name"

"Nikki. Why?"

"Just felt I should know you before we die together."

"Well then whats yours?"

"Lionel."

"Cool name, but who said we would die?" she said

After saying that she reached behind her back. I hadn't noticed it until now but her backpack had morphed into a quiver and she had a bow in hand. I then tried doing the same thing to no avail. Then acting on instinct I grabbed the wallet I had picked up yesterday, and took out one of the credit cards and made a motion similar to that of me swiping a credit through a credit card swiper. Instantly the credit card changed into a Crusader Monk Viking sword. I looked toward Nikki and said

"Lets do it!"

With that she shot three arrows at each of the monsters heads. Though she only hit the goat head, I still thought it was a good shot. I ran up to it and poked my sword into the lion heads eye. I kept it's attention off of Nikki so that she could get a clear shot at it's head. I heard a *thunk* and the Chimera burst into a cloud of dust, leaving behind a snake that looked like a whip. I was moving my head to point in different directions as I was looking for Nikki. When I found her, she was crumpled up on the floor.

"What happened?" I asked her

"The Chimera's snake head bit me before it dissolved."

"So so do you have poison in you or something?"

"Yea. I guess something like that." she replied

I started searching through my bag for something that might help. Finding nothing, I then realized that when I was packing to run away I hadn't thought to bring any medicine of any sort. I thought to my self **_what if she dies because of me. No! She's not gonna die. Not here. Not now. I'll find a way. Wait why am I having thoughts like this. technically it's her problem. She can deal with it. Why have I been so obsessed with. I only met her yesterday. I don't even know her well enough to have feelings like this for her._**

"I'll be right back."

"You know that's what the last person that helped me said before they died."

"Well I'm not going to die and I'm gonna save. I'll be back before you know it."

She pulled me close to her and whispered in my ear

"Be safe and please come back alive."

She then drew me closer and gave me a kiss. Full on the lips. I thought I saw stars. For this was the first time a girl had ever kissed me. Well except for my mom and my older sister. I mean, I guess I'm good looking enough. I have jet black hair, average build, cold black eyes, broken nose, ear piercings, 5 ft 7 in, with a light complexion. As ii ran of I determined that I would save Nikki and not perish in the process


	2. Chapter 2

When I ran off, I immediately looked for a CVS pharmacy. I had found none. I started to panic. **_Stop it. You have to stay calm. You have to save her. No you don't. You don't have to do any thing. You should just leave her in the road._ **I listened to the better to the better part of my mind. An hour had passed and I had found nothing. _**What if she dies because of you. She will. It's been an hour since the poison seeped into her skin. She's probably dead right. You should just leave**_** her.**_** No don't leave her. There is still a chance that you can save**_** her. **

"Would please make up your mind!" I yelled at my conscience

As I walked down the street, an elderly woman walked out of a house. She had black hair (same as mine) that was covered with a shawl, she crouched over like it hurt to stand straight. She waved me over and asked

"Would you carry this wood in side for me?"

"Uh I'm kinda busy right now. I'll help you when I get back" I responded

"I may not be here when you get back. Just come on. It won't take long." She said with a sadistic smile on her face

_**It's a trap. Turn back now while you still can! No. Help her she's an elderly woman and probably doesn't get much company.**_

"Yea. I guess I'll help you. Do you by any chance have anything that cures snake bites."

"Why yes I do. Do you need it?"

"Yes ma'am. You see there's this girl that I think is cu-"

I faltered realizing what I was about to say.

"Do continue." The lady said

"Well I like her and we were being chased by this monster thing an-"

"What'd the monster look like?" She asked

"Well it had three heads one of a lion, one of a goat, and one of a snake. It had the front body of a lion and the back half of a goat and it had a snake tail. The girl, who's name is Nikki, got bite by the snake head. That's the reason for me wanting the snake anti-venom. She said the monsters name was something like Camaro or Chia pet or some thing like that."

"Chimera, was it a Chimera?"

"Yea how did you now and who exactly are you!" I exclaimed

I reached for my wallet and pulled out the credit card.

"Well there is no point in hiding my self any more. Turn around boy."

"Why."

"So my ultimate power want fry you."

"That's reason enough for me."

I turned around and saw a flash of light on the wall I was facing.

"You can turn around now." the lady said

What I saw before me was a completely different, younger and more regal form of the lady who had invited me through her front door. This lady had to crouch down so she wouldn't hit the ceiling.

"I am Nike, the victory goddess. I'm your mother and the one who gave you those weapons."

"No!" I said backing away from her. "No! Your not my mother. And I found this credit card laying on the street!

Even as I said it I knew it was true. I was already making comparisons.

"You know it's true. I know your mad at me for not being there all those years but what your dad said to you about me, was to keep you from showing premature signs of being a demigod."

"What's a demigod?" I asked

"I'm a goddess. A demigod is a human with half his or her blood being that of a god or goddess. So, me and your dad had sexual intercourse and and I conceived you from my womb. I liked your dad because he liked to win and hated losing, just like me, but further more I wish the Olympian god would let me play a bigger in our child's life so I am sorry for not being there."

"But if your a goddess then can't you do anything." I asked

"Yes I guess but I have restrictions placed on me. Oh and Lionel here the snake antivenom, pursue her If you want her. Aphrodite told me that If you did, you two would live a long happy life together. Lionel don't forget YOU ARE MY CHOSEN ONE."

"Thanks, and I forgive you for never being there and not frying my older teasing siblings."

I stormed out of the house. I ran, figuring out the way I had came by things I remembered. A twisted tree here, a patch of grass there. Eventually I found her. I examined her. She had cold lips, and her breathing was ragged, her skin was deathly pale, and it was purplish were she said she got bitten. I poured the antivenom into her mouth. Her face started to return to her normal color though the purple color on her arm remained.

"So what did you do while I was gone?" I asked

"Um, well I had a visitor." She said with a pained look on her face.

"Who was it?"

"My mom."

"Me too!" I exclaimed

"What?"

I told her about my encounter with Nike though leaving out the part about Aphrodite.

"No way. My mom is Aphrodite and when she came she told me to be strong and to last until you got here, that you would be my night in shining armor. She also said something that was kinda random, she said you liked me. Is that true?"

I felt trapped. Of course I liked her, but I wasn't gonna tell her that.

"Uh what do mean by like you?" I asked

"Like date me I guess."

"Well I guess you could say that. Uh could we change the subject?"

"Sure, but if it makes you feel any better, I feel the same way about you. My mom also said that we are traveling in the wrong and that we needed to travel north to Washington state and find a camp called Camp Demigod for demigods. Do you wanna play a game?"

"What game?"

"21 questions."

"Sure."

"I'll start." She said. "What Is your name?"

"Lionel Keane."

"That's where I remember you from. I saw you at a LA Galaxy soccer game in the box seats. Are you Robbie Keane's son?"

"Yea."

"Then why would you run away?"

"Because of my 3 brothers."

"Oh. What about them?"

"They tease me." I said hesitantly.

"Do you think I'm cute?"

"Yea."

"Would you date me?"

"Sure." I responded honestly.

"Would yo- would you be my boyfriend?"

I was startled at this question. A girl had never asked me out, it was always the opposite.

"Sorry if I startled you and I didn't mean to sound desperate." She said

"Nah, um sure but before any thing serious happens lets get to Camp Demigod alive. Let's eat at that Mickie D's over there. I think this has money on it." I said as I pulled out my wallet.

* * *

Inside of McDonald's in turned out my part time sword, part time credit card, did have money on it, a lot in fact, there was about $100,000 on it. We ate and left holding hands. We walked to the Bob Hope Airport, a public airport located 3 miles northwest of Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California. We bought two $324 plane tickets to Seattle, we were on the plane it was packed with people. Nikki had to share a seat with me, which was okay with but other people looked very uncomfortable.

"I'm never buying plane tickets at the terminal again. I'm buying online next time." The guy sitting next to us complained.

When we finally touched down, I was relieved. We had gotten here safely. I asked some people where Camp Demigod was but they said I was crazy and that there was no such thing in Seattle. So we just started looking around. I asked someone else about Camp Demigod, said no there was no Camp Demigod but there was a Camp Pigott nearby and that he would take us there if it was okay. I told him thanks and we tiredly and thoughtless hopped into the car.


	3. Chapter 3

The guy that offered to help us get to this so called "Camp Pigott"s name was Kratos. I half expected him to turn into the God of War guy.

"Did you know that I'm your uncle and you have another named Zelus and an aunt named Bia.?" he asked

"No sir. You all have such weird names."I said

"Yea, well it's your moms side so what do you expect. We are Greek gods. Me, I'm the god strength and power, Bia goddess of force, and Zelus god of rivalry." he explained

Suddenly two people (who I figured were Bia and Zelus) materialized out of thin air. Nikki was so startled she grabbed my thigh.

"Hey nephew!" Zelus said thrusting out his hand which I shook vigorously. "How have you been?"

"Fine up until two days ago, when I ran away from home, fought a Chimera, met my mom and had to fly over night to a place I've never been to and find a camp I don't know about and no one else seems to know either." I yelled all in one breath.

"Whoa you fought a Chimera and survived. I respect you." Zelus said reverently

"Well Lionel I assure you Camp Demigod does exist. Regular mortals are blinded by the Mist." Kratos explained

"Uh whats the mist?" Nikki asked

"I didn't even notice you sitting there." Bia said "Your so pretty."

Nikki blushed. "Thank you."

Bia had a British accent that I found annoying.

"Are you two dating?" Zelus whispered

"Yea." I said

We talked the whole way to Camp Demigod. They seemed to know nothing despite being all powerful all knowing, beings. We arrived at Camp Pigott unharmed. I told Kratos thanks but he and the others all got out the car with me and Nikki.

"We are accompanying you and Nikki because we would like to see how the construction of this camp is going." Zelus explained

"Yea, its only been a year since the Giant War and six months since the announcement of two new camps,Camp Demigod and Camp Zeus, to house demigods. This camp is for Greek demigods that live on the west coast. Camp Zeus is for Roman half bloods that live on the east coast. That camp is located in Miami, Florida. The two camps that commissioned these two camps are located one New York and the other in California. The one in California is for Roman demigods on the west coast. The one in New York is for Greek half bloods on the east coast. So there is one camp for both of our personalities on both coast of America." Kratos droned

"So there are four camps, two on each coast, one Roman one Greek." I asked.

"Basically." Zelus said

The camp was surrounded by mountains so it was in a valley. The first thing I noticed was that there was a lake right in the middle of the campsite.

"Can we go get something to eat then come back?" Zelus asked

"No. Lets get them registered first." Kratos said blankly

We walked down a hill and through an olive grove and we found ourselves, I guess at the main building which was next to the lake. the lady at the fist desk asked us a question.

"Nice weather we're having isn't it?"the lady asked

"Yes but I always carry an umbrella." Kratos replied

The lady then walked over to a bookshelf on the wall then pulled a book with the title of Greek Mythology.


	4. Chapter 4

**6 Years Later**

* * *

**Will's POV**

It was frigid in Chicago. I pulled my heavy parka out of the closet. I hated lugging it through the airport, but I needed it just to get from the house to the car and from the car to the terminal. For months it had been all I could do to look at myself in the mirror while dressing for work. Often I packed my _Global Community One _captain's uniform_,_with its gaudy gold braids and buttons on a background of navy. In truth it would have been a snappy looking and only a slightly formal and pompous uniform, had it not been such a stark reminder that I was working for Jacques Gandolfini (Hades).

The strain of living in Chicago while flying out of New York showed on my face. "I'm worried about you Will," my sister Nikki had said more than once. She had even offered to move with me to New York especially after Lionel had relocated there a few months before. I knew Lionel and Nikki missed each other terribly, but I had my own reasons for wanting to stay in Chicago for as long as possible. Not the least of which was Lauren Haney

"I'll be married before you will if Lio doesn't get on the ball. Has he even held your hand yet?." I asked Nikki

Nikki blushed"Wouldn't you like to know? This is just all new to him, Will. He's never been in love before." she replied

"And you have?"

"I thought I had been, until Lionel. We've talked about the future and everything, he just hasn't popped the question."

I put on my cap and looked in the mirror, parka slung over my shoulder. I made a face, sighed, and shook my head. "We close on this house two weeks from tomorrow. And then you either come with me to New Babylon or your on your own. Lionel could make life easier by being a little decisive."

"I'm not going to push him, Will. Being apart has been a good test and I hate the idea of leaving Chiron alone at Camp Half Blood."

"He's hardly alone. The camp is bigger than ever and the underground shelter won't be a secret for long. It must be be bigger than the camp itself."

Chiron had done his share of traveling, too. He had instituted a program of camps all over the U.S. in anticipation of the day when those believing that Zeus was the king of the gods would be put to death. It wouldn't be long. Chiron had gone all over the world, finding recruits starting in Greece going to Delphi.

Already there was pressure from the Global Community North American government outpost in Washington D.C. to convert all camps into official branches of what was now called Enigma Babylon One World Faith. The new one world religion was headed by the new Pope Peter. Formally Peter Mathews of the United States. He had ushered in what was called "a new tolerance and unity" among the major religions. The biggest enemy of Enigma Babylon, which had taken over the Vatican as its headquarters, were the millions of people who believed that Zeus was King of the Gods.

_To say arbitrarily,_ Pontifex Maximus Peter wrote in an official Enigma Babylon declaration, _that the Jewish and Protestant Bible, containing only the Old and New Testaments, is the final authority for faith and practice, represents the height of tolerance and disunity. It flies in the face of all we have accomplished, and adherents to that false doctrine are hereby considered heretics. _

Pontifex Maximus Peter had lumped the Orthodox Jews and new Christian believers together. He had as much problem with the newly rebuilt temple and its return to the system of sacrifices as he did with the millions and millions of converts to Christ. And ironically, the supreme pontiff had strange bedfellows in opposing the new temple. Eli and Moishe, the now world-famous witnesses whom no one dared oppose, often spoke out against the temple. But their logic was an anathema to Enigma Babylon.

"Israel has rebuilt the temple to hasten the return of their Messiah," Eli and Moishe had said, "not realizing that she built it apart from the true Messiah, who has already come! Israel has constructed a temple of rejection! Do not wonder why so few of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists are from Israel! Israel remains largely unbelieving and will soon suffer for it!"

The witnesses had been ablaze with anger the day the temple was dedicated and presented to the world. Hundreds of thousands began streaming to Jerusalem to see it; nearly as many as had begun pilgrimages to New Babylon to see the magnificent new Global Community headquarters Jacques Gandolfini had designed.

Eli and Moishe had angered everyone, including the visiting Gandolfini, the day of the celebration of the reopening of the temple. For the first time they had preached other than at the Wailing Wall or at a huge stadium. That day they waited until the temple was full and thousands more filled the Temple Mount shoulder to shoulder. Moishe and Eli made their way to the temple side of the Golden Gate, much to the consternation of the crowd. They were jeered and hissed and booed, but no one dared approach, let alone try to harm them.

Jacques Gandolfini had been among the cadre of dignitaries that day. He railed against the interlopers, but Eli and Moishe silenced even him. Without the aid of microphones, the two witnesses spoke loudly enough for all to hear, crying out in the courtyard, "Jacques! You yourself will one day defile and desecrate this temple!"

"Nonsense!" Gandolfini had responded. "Is there not a military leader in Israel with the fortitude to silence these two?"

The Israeli prime minister, who now reported to the Global Community ambassador of the United States of Asia, was caught on microphone and news tape. "Sir, we have become a weaponless society, thanks to you."

"These two are weaponless as well!" Gandolfini had thundered. "Subdue them!"

But Eli and Moishe continued to shout, "God does not dwell in temples made with hands! The body of believers is the temple of the Holy Spirit!" Gandolfini, who had been merely trying to support his friends in Israel by honoring them for their new temple, asked the crowd, "Do you wish to listen to me or to them?"

The crowd had shouted, "You, Potentate! You!"

"There is no potentate but God himself!" Eli responded.

And Moishe added, "Your blood sacrifices shall turn to water, and your water drawing to blood!"

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

I had been there that day as the new publisher of the renamed Global Community Weekly. I resisted Gandolfini's urging me to editorialize about what Jacques called the intrusion of the two witnesses, and he persuaded the Global Community potentate that the coverage could not ignore the facts. The blood let from a sacrificed heifer had indeed turned to water. And the water drawn in another ceremony turned to blood in the pail. The Israelis blamed the two witnesses for debasing their celebration.

I hated the money I was making. Not even an outrageous salary could make my life easier. I had been forced to move back to New York. Much of the old guard at Global Weekly had been fired, including Stanton Bailey and Marge Potter, and even Jim Borland. Steve Plank was now publisher of the Global Community East Coast Daily Times, a newspaper borne out of the merger of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe. Though Steve wouldn't admit it, I believed the luster had faded from Steve's relationship to the potentate too.

The only positive factor about my new position was that I now had the means to isolate myself somewhat against the terrible crime wave that had broken all records in North America. Gandolfini had used it to sway public opinion and get the populace behind the idea that the North American ambassador to the Global Community should supplant the sitting president. Gerald Fitzhugh and his vice president were now headquartered in the old Executive Office Building in Washington, in charge of enforcing Potentate Gandolfini's global disarmament plan in America.

My one act of resistance to Gandolfini was to ignore the rumors about Fitzhugh plotting with the militia to oppose the Global Community regime by force. I was all for it and had secretly studied the feasibility of producing an anti-Global Community Web site on the Internet. As soon as I could figure out a way to do it without its being traced back to my penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue, I would do it.

At least I had convinced Potentate Gandolfini that my moving to New Babylon would be a mistake. New York was still the world publishing capital, after all. I was already heartbroken that Nikki's brother was being required to relocate to New Babylon. The new city was palatial, but unless a person lived indoors twenty four hours a day, the weather in Iraq was unbearable. And despite Gandolfini's unparalleled popularity and his emphasis on the new one-world government and one world religion, there were still enough vestiges of the old ways in the Middle East that a western woman would feel totally out of place there.

I had been thrilled at how Will and Lauren Haney had taken to each other. That took pressure off me and Nikki, wondering about the future, worrying about leaving her brother alone if they were ever to marry. But how could Will expect an American woman to live in New Babylon? And how long could they live there before the potentate began to step up his attacks on King Zeus believers? According to Chiron, the days of persecution were not far off.

I missed Chiron more than I thought possible. I tried to see him every time I got back to Chicago to see Nikki. Anytime Chiron came through New York or they happened to run into each other in a foreign city, Chiron tried to make the time for a private study session. Chiron was fast becoming one of the leading prophecy scholars among new believers. The year or year and a half of peace, he said, was fast coming to a close. Once the next three horsemen of the Apocalypse appeared, seventeen more judgments would come in rapid succession, leading to the glorious appearing of Zeus seven years from the signing of the covenant between Israel and Hades.

Chiron had become famous, even popular. But many believers were growing tired of his dire warnings.

* * *

**Will's POV**

I was going to be out of town until the day before me and Nikki and the new buyers were to close on the house. I smiled at the idea of buyers securing a thirty year mortgage. Someone was going to lose on that deal.

With me gone, Nikki would be left with much of the work, selling stuff off, putting furniture into storage, and arranging with a moving company to ship her things to a local apartment and his all the way to Iraq.

For the past couple of months, Lauren had been driving me to O'Hare for these long trips, but she had recently taken a new position and couldn't get away. So today, Nikki would take me by Lauren's new office, where she was chief buyer for a retail clothier. When they had said their good-byes, Nikki would drive me to the airport and bring the car back home.

"So how's it going with you two?" Nikki asked in the car.

"We're close."

"I know you're close. That's obvious to everybody. Close to what, is the question."

"Close," I said.

As we drove, my mind drifted to Lauren. Neither me nor Nikki had known what to make of her at first. A tall, handsome woman a couple of years my senior, she had streaked hair and impeccable taste in clothes. A week after I had returned from my first assignment flying Global Community One to the Middle East, Chiron had introduced her to the us after a Sunday morning meeting. I was tired and none too happy about his reluctant decision to leave Pan-Con for the employ of Jacques Gandolfini, and he was not really in the mood to be sociable.

Miss Haney, however, seemed oblivious to me and Nikki as people. To her we had been just names associated with a former acquaintance, Irene Steele, who had left an indelible impression on her. Lauren had insisted on taking us to dinner that Sunday noon and was adamant about paying. I had not felt much like talking, but that seemed not to be an issue for Lauren. She had a lot to say.

"I've wanted to meet you, Captain Lewinsky, because—"

"Will, please."

"Well, I'll call you Mr. Lewinsky for now, then, if captain is too formal. Will is a little too familiar for me, though that is what Irene called you. Anyway, she was the sweetest little woman, so soft-spoken, so totally in love and devoted to you. She was the sole reason I came as close as I did to becoming a believer before the Rapture, and—second only to the vanishings themselves—she was the reason I finally did come to Zeus. Then I couldn't remember her name, and none of the other ladies from that study group were still around. That made me feel lonely, as you can imagine. And I lost my family, too, I'm sure Chiron told you. So it's been hard. Chiron has certainly been a godsend though. Have you learned as much from him as I have? Well, of course you have. You've been with him for weeks."

Eventually Lauren slowed down and shared her own story of the loss of her family. "We had been in a dead church all our lives. Then my husband got invited to some outing at a friend's church, came home, and insisted that we at least check out the Sunday services there. I don't mind telling you, I was not comfortable. They made a big deal all the time about being saved. Well, before I could get my little mind around the idea, I was the only one in my family who wasn't saved. To tell you the truth, the whole thing sounded a little white trashy to me. I didn't know I had a lot of pride. Lost people never know that, do they? Well, I pretended I was right there with my family, but they knew. They kept encouraging me to go to this women's Bible study, so finally I went. I was just sure it was going to be more of the same—frumpy middle-aged women talking about being sinners saved by grace."

Somehow, Lauren Haney managed to finish her meal while talking, but when she got to this part of her story she clouded up and had to excuse herself for a few minutes. Nikki rolled her eyes. "Brother!" she said. "What planet would you guess she's from?"

I had chuckled. "I do want to hear her impressions of Irene," I said. "And she certainly sounds 'saved' now, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, but she's a long way from frumpy white trash."

When Lauren returned, she apologized and said she was "determined to get this said." I smiled encouragingly at her while Nikki made faces at me behind her back, trying to get me to laugh.

"I'm not going to bother you anymore," she said. "I'm an executive and not the type to insert myself into people's lives. I just wanted to get together with you one time to tell you what your sister, meant in my life. You know, I had only one brief conversation with her. It came after that one meeting, and I was glad I got the chance to tell her how she had impressed me. "If you're interested, I'll tell you about it. But if I've already rattled on too long, tell me that, too, and I'll let you go with just the knowledge that Mrs. Lewinsky was a wonderful lady."

I actually considered saying that we had had a tiring week and needed to get home, but he would never be that rude. Even Nikki would likely chastise me for a move like that, so I said, "Oh, by all means, we'd love to hear it. The truth is," he added, "I love to talk about Irene."

"Well, I don't know why I forgot her name for so long, because I was so struck by it at first. I remember thinking that Irene sounded more like a name of someone many years older than your sister. She was about thirty, right?" I nodded. "Anyway, I took the morning off, and I arrived at this home where the ladies were meeting that week. They all looked so normal and were wonderful to me. I noticed your sister right off. She was just radiant—friendly and smiling and talking with everyone. She welcomed me and asked about me. And then during the study, prayer, and discussion, I was just impressed by her. What more can I say?"

A lot, I hoped. But I didn't want to interview the woman. What had so impressed her? I was glad when Nikki jumped in."I'm glad to hear that, Mrs. Lewinsky, because I was never more impressed with my sister than after I had left home. I had always thought her a little too religious, too strict, too rigid. Only when we were apart did I realize how much I loved her because of how much she cared for me."

"Well," Lauren said, "it was her own story that moved me, but more than that, it was her carriage, her countenance. I don't know if you knew this, but she had not been a Christian long either. Her story was the same as mine. She said her family had been going to church sort of perfunctorily for years. But when she found New Hope Village Church, she found Christ.

"There was a peace, a gentleness, a kindness, a serenity about her that I had never seen in anyone else. She had confidence, but she was humble. She was outgoing, yet not pushy or self-promoting. I loved her immediately. She grew emotional when she talked about her family, and she said that her brother and her sister were at the top of her prayer list. She loved you both so deeply. She said her greatest fear was that she would reach you too late and that you would not go to Paradise with her and her son. I don't remember his name."

"Rayford, Junior," Nikki said. "She would have called him Raymie."

"After the meeting I sought her out and told her that my family was the were all worried that they would go to Paradise without me. She told me how to receive Zeus. I told her I wasn't ready, and she warned me not to put it off and said she would pray for me. That night my family disappeared from their beds. Almost everyone was gone from our new church, including all the study ladies. Eventually I tracked down Chiron and asked if he knew Irene Lewinsky."

Me and Nikki had returned home chagrined and a little ashamed of themselves.

"That was nice," I said. "I'm glad we took the time for that."

"I just wish I hadn't been such a creep," Nikki said. "For hardly having known her, that woman had a lot of insight into our sister"

For nearly a year after that, I saw Lauren Haney only on Sundays and at an occasional midweek meeting of the larger core study group. She was always cordial and friendly, but what impressed me most was her servant's attitude. She continually prayed for people, and she was busy in the church all the time. She studied, she grew, she learned, she talked to people about their standing with Zeus.

As I watched her from afar, she became more and more attractive to me. One Sunday I told Nikki,

"You know, we never reciprocated on Lauren Haney's dinner invitation."

"You want to have her over?" Chloe asked.

"I want to ask her out."

"Pardon me?"

"You heard me."

"Will! You mean like on a date?"

"A double date. With you and Lionel."

Nikki had laughed, then apologized. "It's not funny. I'm just surprised."

"Don't make a big deal of it," I said. "I just might ask her."

"Don't you make a big deal of it," Nikki said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Lionel POV**

I was not surprised when Nikki told me her brother wanted them to double-date with Lauren Haney. "I wondered when he'd get around to it."

"To dating?"

"To dating Lauren Haney ."

"You noticed something there? You never said anything."

"I didn't want to risk your mentioning it and planting an idea in his head that wasn't

his own."

"That rarely happens."

"Anyway, I think they'll be good for each other," I said. "He needs

companionship his own age, and if something comes of it, so much the better."

"Why?"

"Because he's not going to want to be alone if we decide to get more serious."

"Seems to me we've already decided." Nikki slipped her hand into mine.

"I just don't know what to do about timing and geography, with everything breaking the way it has."

I was hoping for some hint from Nikki that she would be willing to follow me anywhere, that she was either ready for marriage or that she needed more time. Time was getting away from them, but still I hesitated.

* * *

**Will's POV**

"I'm ready when he is," Nikki told me. "But I'm not going to say a word."

"Why not?" I said. "Men need a few signals."

"He's getting all the signals he needs."

"So you've held his hand by now?"

"Will!"

"Bet you've even kissed him."

"No comment."

"That's a yes if I ever heard one."

"Like I said, he's getting all the signals he needs."

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

In fact, I would never forget the first time I had kissed Nikki. It had been the night I left for New York by car, about a year before. Gandolfini had bought up the Weekly as well as any of the competition worth working for, and I seemed to have less choice than ever over my own career. I could try bootlegging copy over the Internet, but I still needed to make a living. And Chiron, who was at the camp less and less all the tune due to his ministry all over the world, had encouraged him to stay with Global Weekly, even after the name was changed to Global Community Weekly. "I wish we could change the last word one more time," I said. "To Weakly."

I had resigned myself to doing the best I could for the kingdom of Zeus, just as Nikki's brother had done. But I still hid my identity as a believer. Whatever freedom and perceived objectivity he had would soon be gone if that truth was known to Gandolfini.

That last night in Chicago, me and Nikki were in my apartment packing the last of my personal things. My plan was to leave by nine o'clock that night and drive all the way to New York City in one marathon stretch. As we worked, we talked about how much we would hate being apart, how much we would miss each other, how often we would phone and email each other.

"I wish you could come with me,"I said at one point.

"Yeah, that would be appropriate," she said.

"Someday," I said.

"Someday what?"

But I would not bite. I carried a box to the car and came back in, passing her as she taped another. Tears ran down her face.

"What's this?" I said, stopping to wipe her face with my fingers. "Don't get me

started now."

"You'll never miss me as much as I'll miss you," she said, trying to continue to work with me hovering, a hand on her face.

"Stop it," I whispered. "Come here."

She set down the tape and stood to face me. I embraced her and pulled her close. Her hands were at her sides, and her cheek was on my chest. We had held each other before, and we had walked hand in hand, sometimes arm in arm. We had expressed our deep feelings for each other without mentioning love. And we had agreed not to cry and not to say anything rash in the moment of parting.

"We'll see each other often," I said. "You'll rendezvous with your brother when he

comes through New York. And I'll have reasons to come here."

"What reason? The Chicago office is closing."

"This reason," I said, holding her tighter. And she began to sob.

"I'm sorry," she said. "This is going to be so hard."

"I know."

"No you don't. Lio, you can't say you care for me as much as I care for you."

I had already planned my first kiss. I had hoped to find a reason to simply brush her lips with mine at the end of an evening, say good night, and slip away. I didn't want to have to deal with her reaction, or deal with kissing her again just then. It was going to be meaningful and special, but quick and simple, something we could build on later.

But now I wanted her to know how I felt. I was angry at myself for being so good at writing but so incompetent at telling her to her face how much she meant to me.

I stepped back and took her face in my hands. She resisted at first and tried to hide her face in my chest again, but I insisted she look at me. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again," I said.

"But, Lio, it's true—"

I lowered my head until my eyes were inches from hers. "Did you hear me?" I said. "Don't say it again. Don't imply it, don't even think it. There's no possible way you could care for me more than I care for you. You are my whole life. I love you, Nikki. Don't you know that?"

I felt her nearly recoil at that first declaration of my love. Her tears rolled over my hands, and she began to say, "How would I—?" But I lowered my mouth to hers, cutting off her words. And it was no quick touch of the lips. She raised her hands between my arms, wrapped them around my neck, and held me tight as we kissed.

She pulled away briefly and whispered, "Did you only say that because you're leaving and—" But I covered her mouth again with mine.

A moment later I touched her nose with the tip of my own and said, "Don't doubt my love for you ever again. Promise."

"But, Buck—"

"Promise."

"I promise. And I love you, too, Lio."


	6. Chapter 6

**Will's POV**

I was not sure just when my respect and admiration for Lauren had developed into love. I had grown fond of her, liked her, loved being with her. We had become comfortable enough with each other to touch each other when we spoke, to hold hands, to embrace. But when I found myself missing her after only a day away and needing to call her when I was gone more than a few days, I knew something was developing.

She actually started kissing me before I kissed her. Twice when I returned to Chicago after several days away, Lauren greeted me with a hug and a peck on the cheek. I had liked it, but had also been embarrassed. But the third time I returned from such a trip, she merely embraced me and did not attempt to kiss me.

My timing had been perfect. I had decided that if she tried to kiss me on the cheek this time, I would turn and take it on the lips. I had brought her a gift from Paris, an expensive necklace. When she did not try to kiss me, I just held her embrace longer and said, "Come here a minute."

As passengers and crew passed us in the corridor, I had Lauren sit next to me in the waiting area. It was awkward with an armrest between us. We were bundled up, Lauren in a fur coat and I with my uniform coat over my arm. I pulled the jewelry box from the sack in my flight bag. "This is for you."

Lauren, knowing where I had been, made a big deal over the bag, the name of the store, and the box. Finally, she opened it and appeared to stop breathing. It was a magnificent piece, gold with diamonds. "Will!" she said. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," I said. And I took her in my arms, the package in her hands nearly crushed between us, and kissed her.

"I still don't know what to say," she said with a twinkle in her eye, and I kissed her again.

* * *

Now, two weeks before my move to New Babylon, Lionel had been on the phone with me more often than Nikki had. While she was warming up the car, he sneaked in one last call.

"Everything set?" I asked Lionel.

"Everything. I'll be there."

"Good."

In the car I asked Nikki, "What's the status on your apartment?"

"They promised it'll be ready," she said. "But I'm getting a little skittish because they keep stalling me on the paperwork."

"You're going to be all right here with me in New Babylon and Lionel in New York?"

"It's not my first choice, but I have no interest living anywhere near Gandolfini, and certainly not in Iraq."

"What's Lio saying?"

"I haven't been able to reach him today. He must be on assignment somewhere. I know he wanted to see Fitzhugh in D.C. soon."

"Yeah, maybe that's where he is."

Nikki stopped at Lauren's clothing store in Des Plaines and waited in the car as I hurried in to say good-bye.

"Is he here?" I asked her secretary.

"He is, and she is," the secretary said. "She's in her office, and he's in that one." She pointed to a smaller office next to Lauren's.

"As soon as I'm in there, would you run out to the car and tell my sister she has a call she can take in there?"

"Sure."

I knocked and entered Lauren's office. "I hope you're not expecting me to be cheery, Will," she said. "I've been trying to work up a smile all day, and it's not working."

"Let me see what I can do to make you smile," I said, pulling her from her chair

and kissing her.

"You know Lionel's here," she said.

"Yeah. It'll be a nice surprise for Nikki."

"Are you going to come and surprise me like that sometime?"

"Maybe I'll surprise you right now," I said. "How do you like your new job?"

"I hate it. I'd leave in a New York minute if the right guy came along."

"The right guy just came along," I said, slipping a small box from my side

pocket and pressing it into Lauren's back.

She pulled away. "What is that?"

"What? This? I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

I had heard Will outside the door and knew Nikki wouldn't be far behind. I turned the light off and felt my way back to the chair behind the desk. In a few minutes I heard Nikki. "In here?" she said.

"Yes, ma'am," the secretary said. "Line one."

The door opened slowly, and Nikki turned on the light. She jumped when she saw me behind the desk, then squealed and ran to me. As soon as I stood, she leaped into my arms and I held her, twirling her around.

"Shh," I said. "This is a business!"

"Did my brother know about this? Of course he did! He had to."

"He knew," I said. "Surprised?"

"Of course! What are you doing in town? How long can you stay? What are we doing?"

"I'm in town only to see you. I leave on a red-eye tonight for Washington. And we're going to dinner after we drop your brother off at the airport."

"Yeah, you came only to see me."

"I told you a long time ago to never doubt my love for you."

"I know."

I turned and lowered her into the chair I had been sitting in, then knelt before her and pulled a ring box from my pocket.

* * *

**Will's POV**

"Oh, Will!" Lauren said, gazing at the ring on her finger. "I love you. And for the few years we have left, I will love being yours."

"There's one more thing," I said.

"What?"

"Lionel and I have been talking. He's proposing in the next room right now, and we were wondering if you two might be open to a double ceremony with Bruce officiating."

I wondered how she would react. She and Nikki were friends, but not close.

"That would be wonderful! But Nikki might not go for it, so let's leave it up to her, no hard feelings either way. If she wants her own day, fine. But I love the idea. When?"

"The day before we close on the house. You give two weeks' notice here and move with me to New Babylon."

"Will Lewinsky!" she said. "It takes a while to get your temperature up, but not long to make you boil. I'll write my resignation before your plane leaves the ground."

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

"Have you wondered why you never got the paperwork on the apartment?" I asked.

Nikki nodded

"Because that deal's not going to happen. If you'll have me, I want you to move in with me in New York."

* * *

**Will's POV**

"Will," Lauren said. "I didn't think I would ever be truly happy again. But I am."

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

"A double ceremony?" Nikki swiped at her tears. "I'd love it. But do you think Lauren would stand for it?"

* * *

Something big was brewing. In a clandestine meeting, I went to see American President Gerald Fitzhugh. The president had become a tragic figure, reduced to a mere token. After serving his country for most of two terms in office, he now was relegated to a suite in the Executive Office Building and had lost most of the trappings from his previous role. Now his Secret Service protection consisted of three men rotating every twenty-four hours, and they were financed by the Global Community.

I met with Fitzhugh shortly after I proposed to Nikki, two weeks before the scheduled wedding. The president groused that his bodyguards were really there to make sure Gandolfini knew his every move. But the most shattering thing, in Fitzhugh's mind, was that the U.S. public had so easily accepted the president's demotion. Everyone was enamored of Jacques Gandolfini, and no one else mattered.

Fitzhugh pulled me into a secure room and left his Secret Service agent out of earshot. The worm was about to turn, Fitzhugh told me. At least two other heads of state believed it was time to throw off the shackles of the Global Community. "I'm risking my life telling this to an employee of Gandolfini," Fitzhugh said.

"Hey, we're all employees of Gandolfini," I said. Fitzhugh confided in me that Egypt, England, and patriotic militia forces in the U.S. were determined to take action "before it was too late."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means soon," Fitzhugh said. "It means stay out of the major East Coast cities."

"New York?" I said, and Fitzhugh nodded. "Washington?"

"Especially Washington."

"That's not going to be easy," I said. "My wife and I are going to be living in New York when we're married."

"Not for long you're not."

"Can you give me an idea of timing?"

"That I cannot do," Fitzhugh said. "Let's just say I should be back in the Oval Office within a couple of months."

I desperately wanted to tell Fitzhugh that he was merely playing into Gandolfini's hands. This was all part of the foretold future. The uprising against Antizeus would be crushed and would initiate World War III, from which would come worldwide famine, plagues, and the death of a quarter of the earth's population.

* * *

The double ceremony in Chiron's office two weeks later was the most private wedding anyone could imagine. Only the five of us were in the room. Chiron concluded by thanking the gods for all the smiles, the embraces, the kisses, and the prayer.

I asked if I could see the underground shelter Chiron had constructed. "It was barely under way when I moved to New York," I said.

"It's the best-kept secret in the camp," Chiron said as we made our way down past the furnace room and through a secret doorway.

"You don't want camp members to use it?" I asked.

"You'll see how small it is," Chiron said. "I'm encouraging people to build their own."

I was astounded at how small the shelter was, but it seemed to have everything we would need to survive for a few weeks. The Tribulation Force was not made up of people who would hide out for long.

The five of us huddled to compare schedules and discuss when we might see each other again. Gandolfini had devised a minute-by-minute schedule for the next six weeks that would have Will flying him all over the world, finally to Washington. Then Will would have a few days off before flying back to New Babylon. "Lauren and I could get here from Washington during that break," he said.

I said me and Nikki would come to Chicago then, too. Chiron would be back from a swing through Australia and Indonesia. They set the date, four in the afternoon, six weeks later. They would have a two-hour intensive study in Chiron's office and then enjoy a nice dinner somewhere.

Before we parted, we held hands in a circle and prayed yet again. "Zeus," Chiron whispered, "for this brief flash of joy in a world on the brink of disaster, we thank you and pray your blessing and protection on us all until we meet back here again. Bind our hearts as brothers and sisters in Zeus while we are apart."


	7. Happy Birthday Lionel

**Author's Note**

**Hey everyone! This chapter is just a lemon to keep you all interested in the story. Another thing, you know what keeps an author happy and writing.**

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* * *

**Lionel's POV**

It was a Friday night and she had to work late and came home at around 7:00. When she walked in I could see that she was as horny as can be. During the day we had shared many sexy text messages that pushed our libidos sky high. As the day wore on the text messages became wilder and wilder and it was clear to both of us that tonight was going to be special.

This very hot wife – who stole my heart – walked in, dropped her bag on the table, put her hand behind my head and pulled me towards her. She put her tongue in my mouth and while she was kissing me, she rubbed her pussy against my bulging crotch. She was so hot that I could not keep my eyes or hands off her. There was no need or desire for any foreplay for her tonight. She was so ready and I was about to have a night that I will never forget.

She took me by the hand and walked to the bedroom without a word. As we walked down the hallway, she started undressing and leaving a trail of her clothes on the floor. By the time we walked into the bedroom she was totally naked except for a very wet panty. It was clear that she had been fingering herself at work after the cellphone foreplay that had taken place. She lay down on the bed on her back with her legs open wide and pulled her panty to one side and while looking directly into my eyes she put her finger into her wet pussy and very gently spread the wetness over her clit. My wife was so beautiful as I watched her playing with herself. This always gets me so hard.

Slowly, and very seductively, she pulled the last bit of clothing that was still in the way off her exquisite body and threw her soaking panty to me. I caught it and held it to my nose, smelling the sweet musk of her heat and desire. Her eyes said everything that she was thinking. I could see in her eyes that she was lost in a sexual high that had enveloped her entire being. She kept rubbing her pussy lips and her clit with her fingers. She made small little circles around her clit that was now standing out like a little horn. It started off very slow, but she could not stop herself from increasing her speed. My very hot wife was looking directly at me to see my reaction. My eyes were staring at her pussy and watching the wetness running down the inside of her leg. Her other hand came off her breast where she was pinching her nipple and she plunged her middle finger into her pussy and withdrew it slowly and then, while looking at me, she put it in her mouth and licked her own wetness. She did this several times. I saw a veil coming over her eyes as she put her fingers in her sopping wet pussy again and then she went wild.

Her hand was a blur and it took only about 10 seconds before she had her first orgasm. It was wild and intense. Her body was shaking, her legs trembling and her mouth was open wide with a soft whimper escaping from her lips. Her back was arched and her head was shaking from side to side. She did not stop but just kept on fingering herself into the next earth shattering orgasm and then the next. (I must mention here that my wife is totally multi orgasmic and we once took a weekend and just tried to see how many times she could cum…..but that may one day be in another story.)

The most beautiful sound is when she starts making those small wimpers that signal the start of her orgasm. I just love it when she says' "Ohhhhh, I'm cumming!" and then to watch as her face shows the pleasure that she is having. She loves playing with her pussy and she finds it a great turn-on when I watch her and when I ask her to do certain things for me. This woman is so hot that she keeps me horny every day.

At this stage I was not really part of what was happening. I was just a spectator to a most beautiful show that my very hot wife was performing for me to enjoy. I stood in amazement with my heart pounding in my ears and my throbbing prick begging to be let out of its confinement. She is very sensitive around her clit and pussy and cums very easily, but she can just carry on after her first orgasm and so she just kept on rubbing and dipping her fingers into her hot pussy until she reached her next orgasm.

By this time her clit was big and swollen and she turned to me and said, "Come join me. I need you to make love to me. I have been waiting the whole day just to be loved by you."

I was undressed in a flash and as I walked to the bed there was a long thread of pre-cum swinging from my throbbing prick. As I came to the edge of the bed she took me in her hand and gently licked off the pre-cum and started opening and closing my foreskin over the head of my prick. She did it extremely slowly and it felt like torture. The head of my prick was purple with all the blood that had flowed to it and I was so sensitive. It was as if I was attached to a wall-plug as I felt the waves of pleasure running through my body. She is so gentle and so very skilled in the art of making me horny and to get me to the point where I drip like a coffee percolator.

She pulled back my foreskin all the way and was gently rubbing her fingers over the head of my throbbing prick. The pre-cum was running down her hand and arm. While she was playing with me she started fingering herself again and I could hear those wonderful squishy sounds that only a very wet pussy can make. She has a 'butterfly' movement of her hand when she fingers herself and I cannot keep my eyes away from her pussy when she does it. She was very hot now and kept on fingering herself over and over and over and she just kept on cumming and cumming. Her climaxes came faster and faster as we made love and as we both got hornier.

She said she wanted to taste me in her mouth and the next moment I felt her hot mouth sliding down my penis. I could feel her mouth as she started pushing my foreskin back with her lips and exposed the sensitive head of my pulsating prick to her tongue. She just kept on going down and was deepthroating me until the head of my penis must have touched her tonsils and my balls were against her nose. How she does it, I do not know, but she just kept on going. She started licking around the head and her tongue was so good and the pre-cum just kept on pouring out of me. I was enjoying this so much, but I needed more.

I asked her to lie in such a way that I could see her pussy and I wanted her to finger herself while I was watching. She is always so eager to please and will do anything I ask of her. She turned around and placed her pussy close to my face and started fingering herself while she kept on sucking my hard penis. I could smell the sweet smell of her hot pussy and was longing for the taste of her clit in my mouth. I watched her finger going in and out of her dripping pussy and listened to those sexy sounds of her fingers between those lips as well as the sound that came from her mouth while she was sucking me and starting to build to her next orgasm.

Her body started shaking. Her hand was moving at such a speed in and out of her pussy that it was a blur. Her pleasure was so great that she grabbed my penis and started squeezing so hard that I was scared that she would crush me. I was just glad that she did not have me by the balls, because that could have ended the evening right there. She threw her head back and a deep groan escaped from her mouth as she came and came and came. It was as if she was never going to stop cumming. Her breathing was deep and her skin was flushed.

She then lay back on the bed with her legs spread and said she wanted to feel my mouth on her clit and that I had to suck her pussy. Well, if there is one thing I love, it is sucking her pussy. I went at it like a madman. She was so hot and dripping and her clit was standing out like a small penis. She was extremely sensitive and I scarcely started licking when she came and after that she just never stopped cumming. I kept on changing the way I was sucking. Sometimes hard and very direct, then slow and soft. She loves it when I start down low and lick her pussy from the bottom up towards her clit. This always gets some great moans from her. Her arse was moving all over the place and I had to hang on for dear life.

I put my mouth directly over her clit and used my lips to push the protective hood away. This made the tip of her clit stick out like a little thorn for me to suck and lick and even bite. She was going wild and the orgasms came quick and fast. I moved my tongue over that little rosebud and got all the response that I wanted. She was hot and I was dizzy with pleasure and lust.

She had numerous orgasms before she said that she wanted me inside her. This very hot wife wanted to feel my hard prick in her wet pussy and she wanted me to ram it into her. I was ready and eager, but then she had another idea. She said her mouth was dry and asked me just to get some water. The fact that she sent me 'out' told me she had something else in mind. So I took my time walking naked to the kitchen with my erection pointing the way.

While I went to the fridge to get something to wet our dry mouths she was preparing another pleasure for me. As I walked into the room, I found that she had climbed onto our newly bought sex-swing and was hanging there with her legs spread wide and her pussy just begging for more attention. I sat on the edge of the bed and started sucking her like a starved man. She was so quick to cum and I did not want to stop. At one stage she tried to push my mouth away after a massive orgasm, but I would not allow her and just attacked her pussy and clit with my mouth. It only took seconds before she came again. Her entire body was shaking with the violence of her orgasms.

I gave her one of her many vibrators and asked her to masturbate for me. She loves being watched while she is masturbating and even loves it when I take photos of her doing this. I watched as she pounded her pussy with the dildo and she came again and again as the vibrator moved in and out of her swollen pussy and played against her hot, dripping clit. When she took it out I immediately fastened my mouth to her pussy again and started sucking and licking her clit, flicking my tongue over her sensitive little bud.

Now it was my turn. She wanted me to get onto the swing because she wanted to suck me off. I did not know what she was planning, but Oh what pleasure was awaiting me!

Once I was settled in the swing, she began sucking the head of my penis and was licking all around the head. She went down on her knees and started stroking my penis with her hand. My head was spinning and the sensations that I felt were so fantastic that I found it impossible to hold back. I watched her hand move up and down the length of my pulsating penis as she drew the foreskin back and then closed it again. The sensation was fantastic. I looked in the mirror against the bedroom wall and saw that she was fingering herself again while she was sucking my penis. All this was just too much for me. There were just too many sensations – her hand stroking my very sensitive prick, and the sight of her fingering her own pussy.

I could scarcely get out the words, "I'm going to cum" when I felt the hot cum rushing up my balls and I started squirting loads of cum. I could feel the cum moving up the length of my prick and felt the tingling all over my body. he was very quick and had her mouth ready as I filled her mouth with my cum. It felt as if I was never going to stop. I kept on squirting over and over. She had her eyes closed as she swallowed every drop that I gave her. She knew how sensitive I was directly after cumming, so she gently licked my head clean and softly sucked to get the last drop of cum from my prick. She looked at me and smiled as she wiped some cum off her lips and licked off her fingers.

What a night! We were both so deeply satisfied that we just fell asleep in one another arms.


	8. Chapter 8

**Will's POV**

Jacques Gandolfini seemed thrilled about my marriage and insisted upon meeting my new wife. He took both her hands in greeting and welcomed me and her to his opulent offices, which covered the entire top floor of the Global Community headquarters in New Babylon. The suite also included conference rooms, private living quarters, and an elevator to the helipad. From there, one of my crew could ferry the potentate to the new airstrip.

I could tell that Lauren's heart was in her throat. Her speech was constricted and her smile pasted on. Meeting the most evil man on the face of the earth was clearly out of her sphere of experience, though she had told me she knew a few garment wholesalers who might have fit the bill.

After pleasantries, Jacques immediately approved my request that Lauren accompany us on the next trip to the U.S. to see my sister and new brother-in-law. I did not say who that son-in-law was, not even mentioning that the young newlyweds lived in New York City. I said, truthfully, that me and Lauren would visit the couple in Chicago.

"I will be in Washington at least four days," Gandolfini said. "Enjoy whatever of that time you can. And now I have some news for you and your bride." Gandolfini pulled a tiny remote control from his pocket and pointed it at the intercom on his desk across the room. "Darling, would you join us a moment, please?"

Darling? I thought. No pretense anymore.

Hattie Durham knocked and entered. "Yes, sweetie?" she said. I thought I would gag.

Gandolfini leaped to his feet and embraced her gently as if she were a porcelain doll. Hattie turned to me. "I'm so happy for you and Laurie," she said.

"Lauren," I corrected, noticing my wife stiffen. I had told Lauren all about Hattie Durham, and apparently the two were not going to become soul mates.

"We have an announcement too," Gandolfini said. "Hattie will be leaving the employ of Global Community to prepare for our new arrival."

Gandolfini was beaming, as if expecting a joyous reaction. I did what I could to not betray my disgust and loathing. "A new arrival?" I said. "When's the big day?"

"We just found out." Jacques gave me a broad wink.

"Well, isn't that something?" I said.

"I didn't realize you were married," Lauren said sweetly, and I fought to keep my composure. She knew full well they were not.

"Oh, we will be," Hattie said, beaming. "He's going to make an honest woman of me yet."

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

Nikki broke down when she read her brother's E-mail about Hattie. "Lio, we have failed that woman. We have all failed her."

"Don't I know it," I said. "I introduced her to him."

"But I know her too, and I know she knows the truth. I was right there when my brother was sharing it with you, and she was at the same table. He tried, but we have to do more. We have to get to her somehow, talk to her."

"And have her know that I'm a believer, just like your brother is? It doesn't seem to matter that Jacques' pilot is a Zeus king believer, but can you imagine how long I would last as his magazine publisher if he knew I was?"

"One of these days we have to get to Hattie, even if it means going to New Babylon."

"What are you going to do, Nikki? Tell her she's carrying the Antizeus' child and that she ought to leave him?"

"It may come to that."

I stood over Nikki's shoulder as she tapped out an E-mail message back to Will and Lauren. Both Nikki and I had taken to writing obscurely, not using names when emailing between us and Will and Lauren. "Any chance," Nikki wrote, "that she will come with him on the next trip to the capital?"

It was seven hours later, New Babylon time, when the message was sent, and the next day we received a reply: "None."

"Someday, somehow,"Nikki told me. "And before that baby is born."

* * *

**Will's POV**

I found it difficult to take in the incredible change in New Babylon since the first time I had visited following the treaty signing in Israel. I had to hand it to Gandolfini and his sea of money. A lavish world capital had sprung up out of the ruins, and now it teemed with commerce, industry, and transportation. The center of global activity was moving east, and my homeland seemed headed for obsolescence.

The week before me and Lauren's flight to Washington with Jacques and his entourage, I e-mailed Chiron at camp, welcoming him back from his trip and asking some questions.

A few things still puzzle me about the future—a lot, actually. Could you explain for us the fifth and seventh?

I didn't write seals, not wanting to tip off any interloper. Chiron would know what I meant.

I mean, the second, third, fourth, and sixth are self explanatory, but I'm still in the dark about five and seven. We can't wait to see you. "L" sends her love.

* * *

**Lionel's POV**

Me and Nikki had settled in my beautiful Fifth Avenue penthouse, but any joy normal newlyweds might have received from a place like that was lost on us. Chloe kept up her research and study on the Internet, and me and her kept in touch with Chiron daily via E-mail. Chiron was lonely and missed his family more than ever(the Party Ponies), he wrote, but he was thrilled that his four friends had found love and companionship. We all expressed great anticipation of the pleasure we would enjoy in each other's company at our upcoming reunion.

I had been praying about whether to tell Nikki of President Fitzhugh's warning about New York City and Washington. Fitzhugh was well connected and undoubtedly accurate, but I couldn't spend my life running from danger. Life was perilous these days, and war and destruction could break out anywhere. My job had taken me to the hottest hazard spots in the world. I didn't want to be reckless or foolishly put my wife in harm's way, but every member of the Tribulation Force knew the risks.

* * *

**Will's POV**

I was grateful that Nikki had begun getting to know Lauren better by Email. When me and Lauren were dating, I had monopolized most of Lauren's time, and while the women seemed to like each other, they had not bonded other than as believers. Now, communicating daily, Lauren seemed to be growing in her knowledge of Prophecy. Nikki was passing along everything she was studying.

Between Chiron and Nikki, I found my answers about the fifth and seventh seals. It was not pleasant news, but I hadn't expected any different. The fifth seal referred to the martyrdom of Tribulation saints. In a secured mail package, Chiron sent to Nikki—who forwarded it on to me—his careful study and explanation of the passage from the Sibylline books which referred to that fifth seal.

John sees under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of Zeus and for the testimony which they held. They ask Zeus how long it will be until he avenges their deaths. He gives them white robes and tells them that first some of their fellow servants and their brethren will also be martyred. So the fifth Seal Judgment costs people their lives who have become believers since the Rapture. That could include any one or all of us. I say before Him, that I would count it a privilege to give my life for King Zeus.

Bruce's explanation of the seventh seal made it clear that it was still a mystery even to him.

The seventh seal is so awesome that when it is revealed in Mount Olympus, there is silence for half an hour. It seems to progress from the sixth seal, the greatest earthquake in history, and serves to initiate the seven Trumpet judgments, which, of course, are progressively worse than the Seal Judgments.


End file.
